Bullseye for Archer
Cricket chiefs’ change in eligibility rules allowed Jofra Archer to star for England at the Oval
Jofra Archer, England’s Barbados-born fast bowler who only qualified for selection earlier this year, got his side’s cricket World Cup campaign off to a perfect start yesterday with three wickets in a 104-run victory over South Africa
HE IS the great new English cricketing hope whose path to national bowling stardom was secured thanks to an administrative googly and a father who lived 4,000 miles away.
Jofra Archer, a blisteringly fast bowler earmarked to fire the side to a first World Cup this summer, announced his arrival at the tournament yesterday with a devastating performance in the crushing win over South Africa. However, unlike his unerring straight-down-the-line trademark yorkers, it took a crafty about-turn by sporting chiefs to get the 24-year-old, brought up in Barbados, in the side.
Last November, the England and Wales Cricket Board made what was described as a “naked” move to name Archer by relaxing eligibility rules for foreign-born players. In its eagerness to win the tournament on home turf, the minimum spell of residency in England required to be named in the national team was slashed from seven years to three.
For Archer, whose British passport comes courtesy of his Liverpool-based father, Frank, it opened the door for national team selection within the first quarter of 2019. While Frank reportedly drove trains on the London Underground before retiring to Merseyside, Archer grew up with his mother, Joelle, and stepfather in humble surroundings in Bridgetown, Barbados.
His selection for England initially left the ECB open to accusations of hypocrisy: six years earlier the same the board had toughened its residency rules, extending them from four years, to put more emphasis on players being developed through the domestic system. England’s Chris Woakes said it would “not be fair morally” to pick Archer for the World Cup. Archer had long declared his wish to play for the nation and was called up by England for the first time on April 17, making his debut just four weeks ago. Yesterday, playing only his fourth oneday international, Archer was in sparkling form at The Oval to ensure England got off to the best possible World Cup start. Regularly bowling in excess of 90mph, Archer took 3-27. It had been a remarkable journey from humble beginnings to cricket superstardom.
He was a “timid and frail” young boy at Christchurch Foundation School in Barbados, who made the brave move to leave his hometown of Bridgetown, Barbados, and try his luck with Sussex county leagues in England after being left out of the West Indies squad for the Under-19 World Cup in 2014. Denis Osbourne, his PE teacher in Barbados, recently told The Daily Telegraph how Archer was “adamant that he would play for England because the English gave him the opportunity he was not afforded in the Caribbean and you could not fault him for that”. He added: “He is happy where he is now. One thing I admire about him is he does not forget where he came from.”
Archer made his debut with Middleton-on-sea in Division Two and, following a back operation in 2015, he began to flourish. The following summer he made his first-class debut for Sussex against the touring Pakistanis.
Since then, his stock has only risen. Archer has now played 28 first-class
‘The English gave him the opportunity he was not afforded in the Caribbean’
‘One thing I admire about him is he does not forget where he came from’
matches for Sussex, taking 131 wickets at an impressive average of 23.44 with five five-wicket hauls. He was also signed by Hobart Hurricanes as a late replacement for the 2017-18 Big Bash season and his mix of yorkers, bouncers, big hitting and athletic fielding saw him become one of the biggest stars of the competition.
Those performances also persuaded Rajasthan Royals to spend £800,000 to sign him for last season’s 2018 Indian Premier League. Sport: Pages 1-5